Lancer Spotlight 3/27/2023: Maryland Envirothon has Linganore students interested in environmental issues

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Envirothon contestants participating in the Envirothon event.

by Brandon Sanford, Reporter

The Envirothon was started many years ago to encourage students to become interested in environmental issues.[/pullquote]On Tuesday, April 25, the Frederick County Envirothon was held, with each Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) team consisting of three student members as representatives of their respective schools. 

The Envirothon is an environmental-themed academic contest made for highschool students, in which participants test their academic knowledge of the environment. 

The contestants must answer questions relating to wildlife, forestry and aquatics, ranging from how old a jawbone was to questions about different ecosystems. 

In the end, Linganore’s Envirothon team finished with a rank of 6 out of 15 schools, with Urbana High School taking first place.

While Linganore did not finish on top, the Envirothon still holds a message for participants that cannot be corroded with a lower ranking.

“The Envirothon was started many years ago to encourage students into becoming interested in environmental history issues,” Linganore science teacher Mark Sunkel, the adviser for Linganore’s Envirothon team, said.

The Envirothon was started many years ago with the goal of motivating students to take interest in environmental issues.

— Mark Sunkel

This year’s rotation of the Envirothon’s questions was based on the topic of global warming and how it affects the environment and its history. 

Linganore senior Justin Looper discussed the types of questions posed to students that related to the identification of animals in a changing environment.

“It was a mix of analysis questions and multiple choice questions, where’d you have to identify the animal’s skeleton,” said Looper. “Or, there’d be a pit of mud, and you’d have to identify what is in the mud,” Looper said.

Overall, the Envirothon as an event remains vital to encouraging student interest in pressing environmental issues.